Trent squares up to Drew. “She’s mine to do with as I please. Butt the fuck out. I don’t tell you what to do with Jane.”
“Because I treat Jane with respect,” Drew retorts, dragging a hand through his dark brown hair.
Trent snorts. “You’re so fucking pussy-whipped. Why you want to tie yourself to the same pussy for life is beyond me.” Trent slaps him on the back, shaking his head. “You should pound as many chicks as you can before you settle down.”
“Ugh.” I step in front of the warring boys. “You’re gross. They love each other, that’s why.” I know it’s a foreign concept to him, but I hate how superior he acts around my brother. Like he deserves some life medal for being a player. “Go, Trent.” I push him toward the door. “Go to that skank and fuck her up the ass. See if I care.”
“You’re going to Rochelle’s?” Drew queries, raising a brow.
“Your sister won’t spread her legs, as usual, and I’m all fired up.” He winks at me. “Lucky for Rochelle.”
“We had an agreement,” Drew protests, and it’s the first I’ve heard of it. “And you’re already breaking it.”
“You decided I should cut Rochelle loose. I didn’t voice an opinion either way.” He saunters toward the door, and a layer of tension lifts from my shoulders. “Convince your precious sister to put out, and I’ll consider it,” he tosses over his shoulder, before leaving, the noise of his shoes echoing in the wide hallway as he walks away.
Drew slowly turns around, inspecting me quickly. “Did he hurt you anyplace else?” he asks, pulling a handkerchief out of his dress pants and gently dabbing at my lip.
The guys were at some function in the gentleman’s club downtown with their respective fathers. Hence why Drew is dressed like he’s attending a funeral. And why Trent is wasted. I hate the way women are treated within the elite social circles, but there are times I’m glad we’re excluded from things.
I harrumph. “You have to ask?” I push the short sleeves of my dress up to my shoulders, skimming a finger over the bruising already blossoming on my upper arms.
Trent never leaves a mark in a visible place.
Appearances and all.
That’s something else he has in common with my father. That and the obvious shared psycho gene. Thankfully, Drew seems to have escaped that trait, although he’s as arrogant and power-obsessed as Daddy Dearest, so he definitely inherited some of his DNA.
I like to believe there’s more of Mom in me.
Drew rubs a tense-looking spot between his brows. “He’s on edge because of this upcoming trip.”
The guys are leaving next weekend for Parkhurst, some bullshit elite training camp they attend a few times a year. Although the guys will go on to college after graduating high school next May, they will each assume some official responsibility within their family business, fulfilling more public obligations, and this month-long camp trip is part of their preparation.
“Don’t make excuses for him,” I say, turning around and holding my hair up.
Drew unzips my dress, casting his warm brown eyes to the floor as I slip it off and pull on my silk nightdress. “I’m not. You don’t understand the pressure that’s on our shoulders.”
I whirl around on him, my eyes blazing. “Don’t talk to me about pressure! At least you get to have a career and a life! What choices do I have?” I flap my hands about.
“You’ve got college to look forward to, and Christian Montgomery has agreed you can wait until you get your degree before producing an heir.”
“Am I supposed to be grateful?” I shout even though I’m venting at the wrong person.
“You’ll want for nothing, Abby.” He tenderly cups my face. “And you and Trent will make beautiful babies together.”
I push him away, disgusted at the turn in our conversation. “Go away, Drew. I can’t hear this tonight.”
His features pull into a tight grimace. “Stop being such a whiny bitch,” he snaps. “You know how important the alliance with the Montgomerys is. We’ve both got parts to play.”
I pull back the silk covers on my large four-poster bed, crawling inside, needing this day to be over. “I know, Drew. I’ve heard this my entire life. I don’t need you to constantly reinforce it.”
“Sure, I do,” he says, perching on the side of my bed, losing his fleeting anger. “Because you’ve got too much of Mom in you, and I see how badly you want to rebel.” He tucks me in under the covers, like he used to do after Mom died when I’d have regular nightmares. Except back then, he’d usually crawl into bed alongside me. “But you can’t, Abby. Stop fighting Trent. Give him what he wants, and he’ll change. He just wants you to love him.”
“He just wants to fuck me,” I retort.
“Is that such a bad thing?”
“His dick is rotten to the core, and his touch makes my skin crawl, so that’d be a yes.” Drew sighs. “Maybe if he wasn’t so aggressive with me all the time. Maybe if he respected me as you do with Jane, things would be different, but he doesn’t, and they aren’t.”
While the Ford family isn’t one of the founding families, they are respected within the upper echelons of elite society, known as the inner circle, and our father was keen to secure a formal alliance.
Marriage between both families will ensure that.
Jane’s father insisted on a virginity clause too, but Drew and Jane are hot for one another, and they couldn’t wait. Unlike me, Jane adores her father, and she doesn’t want to disappoint him, so, even though she’s already sleeping with my brother, her father doesn’t know.
Any time Jane sleeps over, her parents assume she’s staying with me, but she usually sleeps in Drew’s bed. My father actively encourages it, because he loves getting one over on Mr. Ford and he’s a sexual deviant. The private sex room in our basement attests to that.
When I see my brother and Jane together, all loved up and mooning at one another as if no one else exists on the planet but them, I feel the odd stab of envy. If Trent and I were in love, I’d be happy to let him into my bed. But I fucking loathe Trent with the heat of a thousand suns, and I’d never willingly sleep with him.
“Just don’t do anything stupid, sis.” Drew presses a kiss to my forehead. “We already lost Mom, and I couldn’t bear to lose you too.”
“I won’t,” I lie, sitting up and hugging him. “But I won’t be Trent’s punching bag either.”
“Let him in, Abby,” Drew beseeches. “It’ll make for an easier life.”
And as my brother pulls the door closed behind him, I wonder if there’s some wisdom in his words and if I should make some alterations to my plan.
***END OF SAMPLE***